This is the American comfort-food area. Gone are the days of chafing dishes or self-serve bowls -- most of the food is pre-plated into individual servings, often creatively like these mini-fry baskets. (Photo: Larry Olmsted for USA TODAY)

Bacchanal features 10 different ethnic or cuisine-based stations, with much of the food cooked to order. This is the griddle at the Mexican station, where fresh tortillas are turned out at lunch and dinner (and pancakes at breakfast). (Photo: Larry Olmsted for USA TODAY)

The scene: Las Vegas celebrates excess, and the Caesars Palace casino resort has an overarching theme of Ancient Roman mythology, so the Bacchanal Buffet fits both like a glove. This vast dining room is a riotous celebration of calories, with far more than anyone could eat or even taste, aimed at those who revel in consumption.

Las Vegas buffets have been trending upscale, moving away from heat lamps and chafing dishes and towards cooked-to-order, chef-manned food stations, more exotic ethnic cuisine, better quality ingredients and fancier presentations with food pre-plated, rather than scooped from large bowls or pots. I previously wrote in this column about Wicked Spoon, the buffet that rewrote many of these rules when it opened at the Cosmopolitan a few years ago. Bacchanal, fresh off a $17 million top-to- bottom renovation, took this all a step further and on a bigger scale when it reopened last fall.

The buffet has a couple of futuristic, pod-like check-in registers, often with a long line, where the gastronomic journey begins. After waiting and pre-paying, guests are led into the cavernous 600-seat, 25,000-square-foot space, which is divided into three dining rooms, each with a distinct aesthetic: The glass room is bright and airy with big windows, the wood room, in the back with lots of exposed woods is coziest, promoting conversation, and the steel room is contemporary and has more of a business feel: the business of eating.

The buffet line itself is modern with overhead glass lighting and gleaming surfaces; the furniture is contemporary with light wood, and the whole place is clean and bright. The buffet stretches down one side of the space, but is broken up into ethnic cuisines and snakes through the different rooms (with the exception of dessert, which is off by itself). Ultimately it doesn't matter much where you sit, but if intimacy is on your mind, I'd suggest the wood-paneled area. If you love dessert, try the glass room, which overlooks the massive standalone dessert island station (as big as some other non-Vegas buffets by itself). Once you are seated, you get a server for drinks and to clear dishes. The staff, both tableside and at the buffet stations, was exceptionally friendly and efficient, which is critical since Bacchanal does an average of 4,000 meals daily — over 5,000 on holidays and busy periods.

The Las Vegas Review Journal named it the Best Buffet in Vegas 2013, and with consistent 4-star reviews from well over a thousand voters, Bacchanal is currently tied for best buffet in Vegas on Yelp.com, and tied for the second highest score on Tripadvisor.com.

The food: What really sets Bacchanal apart from most other buffets is the attention to detail, authenticity and sheer variety — with over 500 dishes at every meal, some of which change from breakfast to lunch to dinner, and roughly 10 daily specials. With a decent selection of vegan and gluten-free dishes, no one will go hungry here. Some dishes are quite good, equaling or close to versions at normal sit-down specialty restaurants; others are merely okay, but nothing tastes old or substandard. Much of the food is carved or cooked to order in front of you, and the line is constantly replenished. Executive Chef Scott Green explains, "We only cook as much as we need at once, which is unique for a buffet. There's very little waste, and everything is fresh because we treat it like a bunch of little restaurants."

The buffet is broken into sections by category. First up is seafood, with fresh shucked oysters, steamed mussels, boiled shrimp and dishes including paella, shrimp and grits, and lobster chowder, and crab legs at dinner. Next is hot American comfort food, with tater tots, waffle fries, fried chicken and wings, and much more, mostly served in individual mini-fry baskets. There's a barbecue station with two large smokers burning a blend of peach and red-oak wood. As a huge BBQ fan, I was impressed: it's not as good as the best BBQ joints, but it is better than some acclaimed eateries. The ribs were just smoky enough and correctly cooked, not mushy or overcooked as is often the case. You'll also find hand-carved sausages, ribs, brisket, turkey and a selection of regional BBQ sauces. This station is notable because there is now virtually no good BBQ on the Strip.

The Italian station features tossed-to-order pastas, a revolving slate of wood-fired pizzas, and one of my favorite small bites: individual meatball sliders. At breakfast, this station turns out creative frittatas and quiches. One of the most impressive stops is the salumi-laden charcuterie bar here where Chef Green boasted, "We have the best variety on the Strip, seven high-end cured meats and seven paired cheeses daily." This is accompanied by a most unusual feature — a "honey bar" — with a wide selection.

Next comes a salad section with interesting pre-plated mini-salads such as watermelon and feta, Caprese, roasted baby beets, and create your own. The Mexican station is centered around a huge flat circular grill where a staffer is making fresh tortillas nonstop (at breakfast, pancakes and French toast are made here). For authenticity, this station cooks with a lot of lard, and there is a display of 15 homemade salsas. They have several choices of tacos, and the pork carnitas were a standout.

The major highlight at Bacchanal is the large Asian area, broken into several substations. One is entirely devoted to Cantonese BBQ, with ribs, roast pork and duck as good as the versions I've had in New York's Chinatown. It's one of the best parts of the restaurant. There is a better-than-average sushi station with tasty shrimp tempura rolls, and an impressive dim sum station with a variety of steamed and fried dumplings, shu mai, steamed pork buns and even Lotus leaf-wrapped, meat-stuffed sticky rice, a favorite rarely seen outside an authentic dim sum parlor. There is an extensive selection of assembled-to-order soups and congee, including ramen and pho.

Finally comes dessert, which is simply hard to wrap your head around. This gigantic rectangular island has more offerings than you can imagine, with one tempting dish after another, including an extensive array of mini-pastries and cupcakes, made-to-order sweet crêpes, cookies, cheesecake and cake pops, and a variety of cake slices. There are 22 flavors of ice cream - including fig & balsamic, gelato, sorbet and even Japanese mochi, all hand scooped to order -- and a warm station with chocolate lava cakes, fruit cobblers, bread pudding, crème brulee and sticky buns. You can request soufflés which are made to order and delivered to your table. The dessert buffet includes a well-marked selection of sugar free, gluten free and vegan treats.

Overall the quality is surprisingly high, the variety unrivaled, and there are plenty of surprises for even the most well-traveled palate. But for a buffet, the price is quite high and it is hard to really scratch the surface, so Bacchanal is not for the faint of heart or light of appetite. It is for those wishing to experience the best of Las Vegas buffets, and has proven so popular that prices have been raised several times since its September 2012 opening. Prices are not displayed online, but most recently clocked in at $26 for weekday breakfast, $33 for lunch and $46 for dinner, climbing to $51 on weekends, without tax or tip.

Pilgrimage-worthy?: Yes – if you love buffets and want to see Las Vegas all-you-can-eat at its most decadent.

Larry Olmsted has been writing about food and travel for more than 15 years. An avid eater and cook, he has attended cooking classes in Italy, judged a BBQ contest and once dined with Julia Child. Follow him on Twitter, @TravelFoodGuy, and if there's a unique American eatery you think he should visit, send him an e-mail at travel@usatoday.com. Some of the venues reviewed by this column provided complimentary services.